- Hi everyone. I'm Wayland,
and welcome to our spotlight series.
Today we're taking a look at the DCQ-2 Skimmer from Aquamax.
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The Aquamax line of aquarium products has stood out
due to their quality construction and handy features.
And the recent DCQ line of skimmers is no different.
If we look at the original Q series skimmers,
they were a great fit for cluttered sumps
as the slim design has small footprint
while maximizing filtration.
The DCQ continues this trend of efficiency
while also packing in some nice quality of life updates.
There are two skimmers in the DCQ line.
The smaller DCQ-2 which is rated
for a 250 gallon light bioload
or used with a 130 gallon heavy bioload
while it's bigger brother, the DCQ-3,
is rated for a 420 gallon light bioload
or a 240 gallon heavy bioload.
As most of us in the hobby know,
the true heart of a perfect skimmer is the pump.
And unfortunately, not all pumps are made the same.
A high-quality pump is really needed
to make sure your skimmer will run efficiently
and will continue to run efficiently for a long time.
In recent times, protein skimmer manufacturers
have started using DC pumps.
And this has been a great development.
DC pumps possess a great deal of benefits
over traditional AC pumps,
including better energy efficiency and greater control.
So if high-quality pumps are good
and DC pumps are great,
then a high-quality, DC pump is the holy grail
of skimmer parts.
A DCQ skimmer has used a Shark 2000
which takes its root from the classic See Chee pumps.
Within the pump, it has a needlewheel impellar
that chops up bubbles into mini micro bubbles.
Because of the small micro bubbles,
there is high contact time and surface area
for the protein to stick to the surface of the bubbles.
This leads to higher efficiency
and thicker, darker skimming.
While the pump runs, it draws air through the venturi,
venturi line, and from the silencer
which ultimately reduces noise.
The amount of air drawn can be fine-tuned
just by rotating the silencer.
Over the top of the shark pump is a bubble plate
and diffuser that channels and directs micro bubbles upward.
To properly tune the skimmer,
the first step is to simply make sure that the water level's
at the correct height during installation.
Doing so will start you off
at a good head pressure for your pump.
When it comes to the DCQ-2 and three,
the recommended water level is eight to nine inches.
From there, run the skimmer for a week or two,
and see how your bubbles are reacting.
There are a couple of scenarios that you can end up with,
depending on how quickly your bubbles are popping
and how far up the skimmer neck they are making it.
All this may seem complicated,
but thankfully it's made much simpler
through the easy to use pump controller.
To keep it as simple as possible,
the controller only features three buttons,
a power button, a button to increase the flow rate,
and a button to decrease the flow rate.
It also features a zero to ten volt port
for third party controllers.
Some other quality of life features that it has
are a memory backup to save your settings
if the power goes out
and a run dry shutoff to protect your pump
if the water level drops too low.
The DCQ maintains a classic Aquamax body shape
which helps the water to move in a laminar flow pattern.
Simply put, this means that
the water particles flow in parallel paths
as each layer moving smoothly across adjacently.
The result of laminar flow
is a low turbulence water stream
that will move more efficiently through the skimmer,
maximizing contact time, and the amount of bubbles
that will make it to the collection cup
without bursting mid column.
These skimmer bodies also maintain a small footprint
that the classic Q series have.
The DCQ-2 coming in at 6.7 by 9.5 inches
with a height of 19.3.
And the DCQ-3 coming in at 8.7 by 11.5 inches
with a height of 22 inches.
The lid of the collection cup
features a very handy acrylic dome.
Rather than having the bubbles simply hit a flat top,
popping them and depositing some of the waste
onto the lid or neck,
the dome helps to channel them over the neck
and down into the cup for easy removal.
The cup can be removed easily with a slight turn
and has a handle for easy transport to a sink.
For those of us who would rather not take the cup off,
waste can be removed via the silicon drain line
on the bottom.
Let us know what features you like
about the DCQ series.
And also which products you'd like us
to shine a spotlight on in the future.
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As always, thank you for tuning in,
and let's build a better aquarium together.